Alburga was half-sister of King Egbert of the English and wife of Wolstan, the
famous Ealdorman of Wiltshire, who repaired an old church at Wilton and placed
secular priests there. On his death, in AD 800 his widow obtained leave, from
her brother the King, to make it a nunnery for twelve virgins and a prioress.
Alburga is therefore considered the foundress of the monastery, where she died
on Christmas Day AD 810.